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Road repairs funded before annex

SPRING HILL — City officials this week approved allocating nearly $80,000 in unbudgeted funds, almost doubling the amount of extra spending they have authorized in the first two months of the fiscal year.

On Monday, the Board of Mayor and Alderman approved paying an estimated $40,000 to rebuild Wilkes Lane, $27,000 to help subsidize the Regional Transportation Authority and $12,500 to support the upcoming Spring Hill Country Ham Festival.

The latest figures are in addition to an extra $80,000 the board allotted last month for construction of a planned skate park.

Alderman Amy Wurth has said she is worried about the spending on unbudgeted items and what will happen if the city continues that trend, but other board members argued the projects are worth the extra cash.

Wilkes Lane

Alderman Bruce Hull said money to rebuild Wilkes Lane is in the city’s budget because officials could use funds meant for road repairs to do the work and delay other projects for which the money was planned.

The board voted 7-1-1 Monday to approve repairing the road while Spring Hill goes through the process of annexing it. Alderman Eliot Mitchell voted against the resolution, and Alderman Jonathan Duda abstained from the vote.

Spring Hill officials have discussed Wilkes Lane in recent months after residents living in a subdivision located off the road complained about its poor condition. The road is torn up after years of construction vehicle use, and city officials held off repairing it because half the street was not properly annexed — meaning it remained in Williamson County’s limits.

The board decided to annex the portion of the road not inside Spring Hill to resolve the issue, but Duda argued the city should not spend money on the project until the city owns the property.

“The city spending its resources on a road we haven’t completed annexation on is problematic,” Duda said. “I don’t want to spend city money on something until it’s ours.”

Duda made a motion to remove the part of the resolution that called for repairing the road before it was annexed, but the motion was denied 6-3. Duda, Mitchell and Alderman Keith Hudson voted for it.

Mitchell said he agreed that paying to repair the road before it is annexed could lead to further issues, such as the city facing penalties during a state audit of its budget.

But Mayor Rick Graham said the road is in such poor condition that it might not last through the winter, and construction needs to begin before the cold weather hits.

Not fixing it immediately could also lead to issues for Spring Hill, City Attorney Patrick Carter added.

“If there’s an accident out there due to the road, the city could find itself with some exposure,” Carter said. “While I agree that process is important, this is already a city road — perhaps just not officially.”

Regional

Transportation Authority

RTA officials approached Spring Hill in August with a request to help subsidize the bus service that runs between Nashville and the city to the tune of $27,000.

The Board of Mayor and Alderman delayed the vote until September to receive more information, and most members were satisfied with the organization’s explanation of why the city needed to participate in the route’s funding. The board voted 8-1 to grant the request, with Wurth dissenting.

On Monday, Wurth said she was still unsure about giving money to the service when RTA officials could not provide a number of Spring Hill riders that use it or calculations for how they determined what the city should pay.

“The numbers just don’t line up,” she said. “Because of this, I don’t feel in good conscious that it’s the right thing for the city at this point.”

Other aldermen argued the bus route takes additional cars off the road and that partnering with the RTA could lead to additional regional transportation services.

“This is an opportunity to show we’re serious about looking for ways to reduce road congestion between Spring Hill and Nashville,” Mitchell said.

Ham Festival

Spring Hill officials have donated $5,000 to the Country Ham Festival in previous years, but board members approved upping the amount to $12,500 this year at the event organizers’ request.

The board voted 7-2 approving the amount, with Hull and Wurth dissenting. Both aldermen are on the Spring Hill Budget and Finance Committee and wanted the city to donate the same amount it did previously or not at all.

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